The headline in Monday's New York Times was ominous: "Revealing Photo Threatens a Major Disney Franchise."

No wonder Mickey and Goofy are sweating. At stake is a billion-dollar-a-year revenue machine predicated on the perceived wholesomeness of an adolescent known to every preteen with access to the Disney Channel as "Hannah Montana" -- aka, Miley Cyrus.

When word got out that edgy photographer Annie Leibovitz had taken pictures of Ms. Cyrus for a "revealing" spread in the June issue of Vanity Fair, the reaction by parents of Miley's young fans was deafening.

One of the photos shows Ms. Cyrus with her back bare and suggestively wrapped in a sheet. If she were an adult, the image would be tame by today's magazine standards. But the squeaky-clean singer is 15.

It didn't take long for her boss to weigh in. "For Miley Cyrus to be a 'good girl' is now a business decision for her," said Gary Marsh, entertainment president for Disney Channel Worldwide. "Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won't get it back."

That prompted Ms. Cyrus to issue an apology for posing for Vanity Fair. She told her fans that she was disappointed because she thought the experience was going to be "artistic."

Ms. Leibovitz and the magazine reminded Miley that she signed off on the photo shoot. Her parents were on the set, so no one can claim that grown-ups weren't in charge.

Many fans are reacting as if Vanity Fair is the bad guy, but it's unfair to fault the magazine when the girl's family is her first defense. Miley's handlers should have objected when the pictures were taken, not afterward when her devotees objected.

What are parents for anyway?